Takudzwa Chitsiga Sports Reporter ZIMBABWE international midfielder Hardlife Zvirekwi was relieved to be back home yesterday after a horror weekend in which he ended up being stranded in Nairobi, as a nightmarish trip to a World Cup soccer assignment ended prematurely in Kenya. The CAPS United star flew back into Harare yesterday morning, exactly 32 hours after having left Harare International Airport for a World Cup date in Guinea that only ended in Nairobi on Saturday after he lost his passport during the flight to Kenya. Zvirekwi’s misfortunes provided yet another sub-plot to a chaotic travel arrangement by the Warriors that saw just a portion of the original delegation leaving for Guinea in the early hours of Saturday, a day before the World Cup tie against Syli National. Given the haphazard nature of the travel arrangements, with the Zifa leadership coming in for some stinging criticism for the pathetic way they organised this trip, it was inevitable that something would go horribly wrong on the way. And poor Zvirekwi was the fall guy after he lost his bag, which contained his passport, during the flight from Harare to Nairobi. Yesterday, Zvirekwi was back home, thousands of kilometres away from where he was supposed to be, and he relived his horror in Nairobi and the heartbreak of missing the World Cup qualifier against Guinea at the September 28 Stadium, last night. The CAPS United rightback was part of a truncated Warriors side that had 15 players on board when they left Harare at dawn on Saturday. Zvirekwi was also certain to start in coach Klaus Dieter Pagels’ team that was left short on manpower after the trio of talisman Knowledge Musona, fellow defender Partson Jaure and midfielder Ovidy Karuru were left behind in Harare at the 11th hour, ostensibly because they were injured. But Zvirekwi added another twist to the Warriors woes when he noticed moments before disembarking from the Kenyan Airways flight that “true to his name there was to be some hard life for him in Nairobi’’. While the Warriors delegation, which was already well behind their schedule, had to proceed to Dakar, Senegal, for yet another connection to their destination, Zvirekwi was left holed up in the Kenyan capital as the Zimbabwean Embassy officials in the East African country moved in swiftly to issue him with a travel document. Unfortunately for Zvirekwi, the bid to be in Conkary last night, had already been lost and he had to be contend with an aborted mission. The CAPS United man returned home yesterday morning and narrated his ordeal and revealed that he was hugely disappointed at missing another chance to play for the Warriors despite the Group G encounter being a dead rubber in as far as Zimbabwe’s World Cup aspirations were concerned. Zvirekwi, who can also play in a midfield holding role, said he was still to come to terms with what had happened in Kenya “as I do not usually put my passport in the bag’’. “What happened is that we were given some T-shirts in the flight so the moment I placed it in the bag I also put in it my passport, which had been in the pocket for the better part of the journey. “I noticed that the bag, which had all my documents like bank cards, the passport and national identity card, was missing when we were about to disembark. At first we thought someone had mistook my bag for his or hers only to realise that there was no-one coming forward,” Zvirekwi said. Zvirekwi said once the Zimbabwean Embassy in Kenya had issued him with an Emegency Travel Document, it could have been possible for him to follow the Warriors to Conakry but there are not many flights at regular intervals between the two destinations and he had to make do with having to return home. “The Zimbabwean Embassy in Kenya ran around to secure an ETD for me but I could not catch up with the team as they had gone to Senegal. There was no direct flight so I had to come back (home) as I could not catch up with them on time.” Despite the Warriors enduring their worst trip for an international assignment, Zvirekwi remained hopeful in the face of adversity that the 14 players, who eventually made the trip to Conakry, would do well against the Sylie Nationale. “I think the team is good but all the coaches’ plans were put in tatters, I hope they will adjust. It is a sad moment for me because what happened also disturbed all the plans the coach had. “We had a good team and I believe we were going to fight and get a good result. “It is good for you as a player when you gel into the coach’s plans but it is so sad that I could not take part in the match after the incident. “It is a match we wanted to win at all cost as we are coming from another defeat against Egypt,” Zvirekwi said. But with Zifa having sunk to new depths in terms of administrative bungling, it clearly showed that the Warriors were now heading to Conakry merely to fulfil a fixture and avoid being walked over by Guinea which would have thrown the entire Group G qualification race into turmoil. A failure by the Warriors to show up in Conakry could have also attracted a huge penalty from Fifa and a ban from international football by the world body. Zimbabwe are already in the Confederation of African Football’s black book for having failed to fulfil their African Under-17 and Under-20 Youth championships qualifiers last year. Following the botched Guinea trip, which has certainly shamed the country’s image, Zifa could this week be asked to submit a report to the Sports Commission. Pagels, who was earlier in the week scathing in his attack on Zifa, is also certain to be more livid when he returns from Guinea.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 06:00:51 +0000